


Stranger Things Have Happened

by space_ghoul



Category: Big Bang (Band)
Genre: Eventual Fluff, M/M, Magic, Universe is loosely based off of Kiki's Delivery Service, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 18:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6205930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_ghoul/pseuds/space_ghoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a new witch in town, and it would seem Seunghyun is the only one who isn't excited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is loosely based off of the universe in Kiki's Delivery Service, in that witches exist, they aren't evil, everyone knows about them, and Jiyong has a cool cat companion. Just wanted to clear things up. 
> 
> I'm going to try to keep this relatively lighthearted, so if you're looking for something dark, you might not have a good time. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Seunghyun starts at the sound of his alarm clock, it's shrill ringing piercing the otherwise quiet small town air in the way only technology could. He groaned, fumbling with it for a few agonizing seconds before finally succeeding in shutting the damn thing off. In his tired and groggy state, he wonders, briefly, if he could get away with calling off of work for the day and sleep until well past noon instead.

He abandons that fantasy less then thirty minutes later when he remembers that he has bills to pay, the fear of homelessness ripping him unwillingly out from underneath the sheets. Even if his boss bought whatever halfassed excuse he managed to come up with, his coworker (and certified Best Friend™) Seungri would almost certainly find him and drag him to work himself. The thought of being nagged at by the younger seems a fate worse than death — or in his case, worse than having to load furniture into delivery vans all day. 

Despite his prior reluctance, the task of getting ready for work goes by smoothly every morning. Tired or not, he's a well oiled machine when it comes to routines, so he's able to make up for some of the time lost laying in bed by brushing his teeth, showering, and getting dressed at record pace. He has to skip breakfast, but he knows that's his own fault.

Seunghyun bikes to work every morning, taking the same route as always, and despite skipping breakfast, he manages to be a few minutes late. Seungri, of course, points this out. He always does.

"Took you long enough. Is it really that hard for you to get to work on time?" 

Seunghyun doesn't dignify that with an answer, instead choosing to straighten out his uniform. Seungri isn't moved by his lack of response, either, and changes the subject easily.

"We got some new items in. Since you're the Furniture Whisperer around here, I think you should handle the displays," Seungri said, nodding towards a collection of cardboard boxes crammed in the corner of the shop.

Seunghyun rolled his eyes, "I'm not a _Furniture Whisperer_ , I'm just the only one here who has any fucking taste."

"Yeah, yeah, why don't you tell that to the chairs in the dining set, I bet they'd really appreciate your superior taste in interior design," he teased, snorting out an ugly laugh when Seunghyun scoffed and got to work. 

Teasing aside, Seunghyun did have good eye for interior design — as soon as the new merchandise was unboxed, all dark wood pieces with clean, modern edges, shining in their newness, he was envisioning the perfect setup. 

When Seunghyun had first come here, the shop was floundering. Despite their quality pieces, they just weren't selling as well as the other furniture stores and none of the staff knew why — that is, until Seunghyun convinced them to let him do some rearranging. Turns out, all the store needed was someone like him — someone who could combine furniture pieces and decor from different sets in such a way that it was visually pleasing. Someone who could take their drab displays and make them something more, something that people could look at and envision in their own homes.

So Seunghyun secured a job working his metaphorical magic. He had to say, as much as he hated waking up before the shop opened for the day, it felt good to be doing something he loved. Design and art had always been his passion, but he'd never been much good at creating phyisical pieces. Early mornings or not, being able to work hands on with such skillful, custom designs was a dream of his, in a strange way. 

He's adjusting a centerpiece on the new display table when he's broken out of his trance. At some point, Seungri went from taking inventory in the back, to hovering behind him to watch him work. Seunghyun nearly flinch when he caught sight of him standing so close, but caught himself — and more importantly, the fragile centerpiece. 

"Sorry, just wanted to tell you that we're opening in a few minutes," Seungri said sheepishly.

"I'm nearly done. Could you get those chairs?"

Seungri complied, taking the chairs one by one and placing them at the table. "Oh!" He said suddenly, nearly startling Seunghyun again. This time he didn't seem so sorry. "Did you hear that a witch moved into town?" 

"So?"

" _So?!_ Isn't that cool? We haven't had a witch here since, well, ever!" 

That isn't entirely true. There was an elderly witch he'd met once or twice around town when he was a kid, but he figures Seungri was too young at the time to remember her. Most sizeable towns had several witches living in them at any given time, but in a small seaside town like this, it wasn't uncommon to go a few years between seeing them. From what Seunghyun understood, witches were common enough to be treated fairly normally, but uncommon enough that you could technically go your entire life without meeting one — either way, it didn't matter to him. They were just people. People who were treated like royalty.

"I don't get what the big deal is, no one freaked out this much when Daesung moved here a few months ago," Seunghyun muttered. 

Seungri looked at Seunghyun incredulously, as if he was personally offended that he would compare Daesung to a witch he hadn't even met yet. "That's because Daesung isn't fucking _magic_ , Seunghyun."

"So? Magic isn't anything special, it's just like any other talent someone could have," Seunghyun said defensively, "besides, you don't even know them, they're probably a brat — could you imagine everyone treating you like you're special from the day you're born? You'd be spoiled rotten!" Perhaps he wasn't giving this witch a fair chance, but he didn't care. Ever since rumours started to spread that a witch was looking to move there, he'd heard nothing but talk about this witch, glorifying them in a way that would be sure to let them down. Magic or no magic, no one was this special. To be frank, it was annoying.

"Alright, alright..." Seungri mutter, "what's got you so grumpy?" 

His question was clearly rhetorical, because before Seunghyun could answer, he was walking away to open up shop. He scoffed, shaking his head to himself. Today would be a long day. 

—

Four hours into his shift, Seunghyun was starting to regret skipping breakfast. After he'd finished setting up displays, it was onto the less fun part of his job — loading delivery trucks. Since their shop offered same day delivery, he was stuck in the back room most of the day doing heavy lifting, and by noon, he was sweaty and exhausted. He could use some caffeine.

Luckily, by the time he was feeling too tired to work any longer, his lunch break had rolled around. Less luckily, it was his turn to pick up coffee for he and Seungri.

Having to do things he didn't want to do seemed to be the theme of today.

That being said, the thought of coffee was the only thing keeping him going, so he hopped on his bike and quickly headed down to his favorite coffee shop — the only place in town that brewed something strong enough for his liking. Seungri always joked that Seunghyun liked his coffee more bitter than than himself (then would immediately add 'if that's even possible.) and he was right, to be fair. That didn’t make the joke funny though.

He stopped his bike just short of the shop, hopping off and leaning it up against the building, not worried about thieves in such a small, closeknit community. As he entered the building, he was struck with the intoxicating smell of freshly baked cakes and coffee.

"Hey, Seunghyun! The usual?" The cashier greeted, familiar smile still pleasant and warm after all these years. 

"Yup," he smiled, pulling out his wallet before she even recited the cost — he knew it by now — and handed her the cash.

"Alright, we'll call your name when it's ready," she replied, handing him back his change. 

Seunghyun nodded his response, making his way to the nearest empty table while he waited. He sat with his back to the door, pulling out his phone to distract himself during his wait. He had a few texts to answer — he didn't know why his friend's even bothered texting him, he took forever to answer — and while he was tapping out a response to Youngbae, a bell rang over head, signifying that someone had entered. 

Seunghyun didn't look over immediately. He didn't think much of it at first, actually, until he heard a _meow_. That caught his attention — as far as he knew, pets weren't allowed in here, and who the hell took their cat out of the house anyways?

He got his answer as soon as he looked up, eyes falling on an unfamiliar figure. The first thing that caught his eyes was his hair, which was pastel orange and perfectly styled. Next, the source of the meow — a large cat with long, smokey gray fur and beautiful wide, green eyes, perched on his shoulders like some grossly oversized parrot, somehow maintaining it's balance without digging it's claws into the boy's clothes. Speaking of, he was dressed head to toe in black — from his oversized sweater, to the skin tight black jeans he wore on his thin legs, to his black Doc Martin boots. 

It was obvious to Seunghyun immediately that this boy was the witch everyone was talking about. He was a walking a cliché, with the cat and the funeral-worthy garb to match. Seunghyun wanted to scoff and roll his eyes, and yet... There was something more about him, something vaguely enchanting. 

Before he could pull his eyes away, the boy looked back at him, and Seunghyun's breath caught in his through. He was... cute. Small and timid looking. _Soft_ , if his deep brown eyes were anything to judge by.

The two held eye contact for an uncomfortable amount of time, staring contest broken when Seunghyun's name was finally called. He blinked out of his trance, standing up so quickly that the boy flinched. Seunghyun blushed as he quickly made his way past the witch, nearly dropping the bag of food in his flustered state. Why was he so nervous? He hears a _giggle_ erupt behind him, further cementing his distain and frustration. Annoyed and embarrassed, Seunghyun gripped the bag tighter and shot him the nastiest glare that he could manage as he walked out, which quickly shut witch-boy up. 

—

"Late again. What's the point of riding a bike when you could just walk here in half the time?" Seungri quipped as soon as he stepped through the doors.

"Shut up." Seunghyun shoved Seungri's order into his hands, still on edge from his prior fumble. 

"Shit, someone's grumpy. What, coffee not bitter enough?"

" _No_ ," Seunghyun insisted, "pretty sure I saw the witch at the coffee shop."

Seungri scoff, " _That's_ what got you so pissed off? Seunghyun, you're bordering on prejudice with all this witch hate."

He'd been so caught off guard, and to think that brat had the nerve to laugh at him when they didn't even know each other. It wouldn't mean much if it was anyone else, but at this point, Seunghyun was almost desperate for a reason to hate him. Still, in the back of his mind, he knew his reasoning was too petty to admit to Seungri. 

"That's not it," he lied. "I'm not mad, just tired."

Seungri dropped the subject quickly, peeking into his bag and pulling out a muffin with a pleased smile. "So, what are they like? Did you say hi?"

"I don't know, he came in as I was leaving," Seunghyun said quickly, "and no, of course I didn't."

"He?" Seungri faked a pout. "I was hoping it'd be a girl. Oh well, I guess you can have him then," he laughed.

"Gross." Seunghyun rolled his eyes. Seungri tried to quiz him more about the witch, but he wasn't having any of it, so he eventually dropped the subject altogether and vowed that he'd just have to meet the guy himself. 

The rest of their lunch break was spent talking about other things, Seunghyun never quite able to get the witch boy off his mind as he sipped on unpleasantly lukewarm coffee. All the guy had done was laugh, but to Seunghyun, he might as well have insulted his mother and spit in his face — he was offended, and all but convinced that he was right about witches being brats.

It was a shame that such beauty was wasted on him. It really wasn't fair — you couldn't be magic, _and_ beautiful, _and_ treated like a king — rules were already being bent and broken for him and his obnoxiously elegant cat — when he hadn't done anything yet for the community no less!

More important, something about him was affecting Seunghyun, like fog cast over his mind. He didn't have control over himself back there — as soon as they met eyes, he was under his spell, perhaps literally.

In other words, he was fucked.

He really should have been stayed home today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter? So soon?! 
> 
> I'm really enjoying writing this series, so I hope you all like it!
> 
> Oh, by the way, Jiyong's cat is a Maine Coon. They're v big and v fluffy, so just imagine tiny witch-boy Jiyong walking around with a big fluffy cat following him everywhere.

With luck, Seunghyun doesn't see witch-boy again, but he does _hear_ about him an awful lot. With each passing day, it seems more and more people have met him, and all of them seem to feel it nessissary to relay the experience to Seunghyun — all positive experiences — even though he isn't subtle in his distain for him. 

The day after what Seunghyun dubbed 'The Coffee Shop Incident', he learns the witches name is Jiyong and rolls his eyes. He doesn't dignify that information in the slightest — he always refers to him as 'witch-boy', though he tries to mention him by even that title as little as possible. 

Next he learns that Jiyong flew here from across the country, via broomstick, _of course_. He mutters under his breath something to the effect of 'he really is a walking cliché', only to have Seungri elbow him in the ribs and lecture him on how offensive that is.

"A broomstick, Seungri. A broomstick. Don't you think there is something a _little_ more effective than that? Like, I don't know, a plane?" Seunghyun had retorted.

Seungri shrugged, clearly not about to side with him on this one. "Maybe he doesn't like crowds," he says simply.

Seunghyun rolled his eyes so hard he nearly gave himself a headache, far too invested in discrediting Jiyong than was healthy. "And what about the black? Has anyone seen him in anything but all black? Or that stupid fucking cat that's always with him?"

That must have struck a cord with Seungri, because he gasps faintly and replies, "Hey, Saturn is cute!" 

Seunghyun pulled an offended, almost disgusted look. "You know it's name?"

Seungri merely nodded, quick to continue, "Besides, I'm pretty sure all witches have some kind of animal spirit following them around. You know, if it's a _cliché_ , there's probably a reason for it."

That managed to shut Seunghyun up. He wouldn't admit it, but he supposed Seungri was right about that last part, if only a little. Still, he didn't feel any better about Jiyong, and he wished with all his being that people would stop talking to him about the kid. Whether he'd at work, home, or out with friends, he's always hearing about Jiyong — about how someone saw him riding his broomstick and it was _so cool_ , or how sweet he allegedly was, or what kind of good things he'd bring with his magic. In such a small town, people couldn't help but talk about their strange new neighbor with magic powers, but Seunghyun was sick of it, has been sick of it since before he even came. 

He can't help but think of him as a curse rather than a blessing. Perhaps he's bitter from his embarrassment, bitter that he's the center of attention for no good reason, bitter that he has to hear all these good things about him when his own experience with the boy was less than sweet...

Regardless of why, he was bitter and angry, and he hoped all the excitement would died down soon so he could go back to enjoying the virtues of a _quiet_ small town.

—

Unfortunately, town isn't quieting down any time soon, but it only takes a week or so for his friends to catch on that he doesn't want to hear anything about witch-boy _or_ his feline sidekick. Witch that out of the way, he hears less and less about him, and seeing as he never even sees a peaks of that pastel orange hair, he doesn't really think about him anymore. 

He gets less bitter — or rather, less bitter about this one issue in particular, because there's no such thing as a non-bitter Seunghyun — and his life returns to it's typical swing. He gets out of bed at an ungodly time each morning, goes to work, goes home, sleeps, repeat. It's boring, but to the very core, it's him and it's nice.

But there's a saying: "Nothing good is ever built to last."

He realizes that's true one day at work, when he's on delivery duty — which he hates anyway, because he hates assembling furniture, and he hates being in other people's homes, and he _hates_ small talk. 

Seungri peaks his head into the back room with the most knowing, sadistic smile on his face, and hands Seunghyun a receipt with an address on it. "I need you to deliver a dining set," he said, "and please, at least _pretend_ to be nice." Before Seunghyun can ask any questions, Seungri's vanished again. 

He looks at the address, but doesn't immediately recognise it, which isn't unusual. Seunghyun has lived here his whole live, and though the town is small, it's not do small that he knows where everyone lives by heart, do he doesn't really question it. Seungri rarely makes much sense, anyway.

Another co-worker helps load the truck, and without hesitation, Seunghyun climbs in the drivers seat and heads to the destination.

—

When he arrives, there's nothing immediately noteworthy about the house, so he approaches the door easily and knock twice. Before the door opens, he hears a small, unfamiliar voice call "one minute" and then the clattering of what he assumes is pots and heavy footsteps. 

True to his word, about a minute later, the door swings open, and much to Seunghyun's dismay, Jiyong is standing in front of him looking fairly winded. "Oh," is all he says, making no move to let Seunghyun in. He just stares up at him, looking smaller and more nervous than he had looked in the coffee shop.

"I'm..." Seunghyun motions vaguely behind himself, at the delivery truck, "you ordered some furniture?"

As much as he hated to obey Seungri's orders, he sure as hell wasn't about to get himself fired over being rude to witchy over here, so he'd be as nice as was nessisary.

"Oh," he said again stupidly, as if it was the only thing he could say. If he hadn't made up his mind on being polite, he'd roll his eyes at how little progress they were making because of him. "Okay, uhm, go ahead," he said finally, moving out of his way.

"I'll bring all the boxes in and assemble," he called, back already turned as he headed for his truck. Jiyong didn't reply, so he figured he'd already retreated to his house. First box in hand, he turned to head back to the house, only to come face to face with Jiyong, almost dropping the box in his surprise.

"Sorry," Jiyong said quickly, steadying the box for Seunghyun. He winced when Seunghyun pulled the box back a little too quickly. "Let me help? It's the least I could do."

Seunghyun gave his a suspicious glance, but didn't feel like stalling this any longer, so he agreed to let him help.

Turns out, Jiyong isn't that strong, so he isn't a big help. He doesn't slow him down, but he doesn't make the process go much quicker, so by the time he's bringing in the last box, Seunghyun is more than a little annoyed. They unbox the pieces together, Jiyong not asking this time, but at the very least he's more helpful here. 

Now that he's inside and he can really see the place, and it doesn't look much like he'd imagined a witch's home would look. There are what appear to be small, black cauldrons by the fireplace; a very witchy looking broomstick leaning against the wall by the door; and the who place smells strongly of sage, but that's it. For the most part, it just looks empty.

At least, he thinks that's it, until he moves to put something behind him and hits what feels like a small table, knocking off some of it's contents in the process. He turns quickly, eyes falling upon a disorganized mess of crystals, candles, and statues, half of which now littered the floor. "Sorry, didn't see that thete," he said nonchalantly, reaching over to pick up some of the fallen objects.

"Don't touch those!" Seunghyun tense up almost immediately, hand hovering just short of a deep red candle. Jiyong was quick to his feet, gently pushing past Seunghyun so he could kneel in front of the table, first straightening it out, then gathering the objects from the floor to his lap.

Seunghyun tried to see what the big deal was, worries fading away when nothing stuck out to him as being broken. As far as he was aware, all he'd done was displace some eccentric decor, but Jiyong looked downright frantic as he adjusted the velvet table clothe and carefully inspected each item before returning it to its apparent rightful place.

"This is my altar," Jiyong explained, "I didn't mean to startle you, it's just... very important."

Seunghyun nodded, a small frown working it's way onto his face. He wouldn't have guessed — mostly because he didn't know what an altar _was_.

"This is sorta like... the center of my powers, if that makes sense," Jiyong explained, almost as if he could read his mind. "Everything here is charged with magical energy, it's what keeps balance in my life." 

Seunghyun raised an eyebrow, curiosity getting the best of his despite his mind telling him he shouldn't care. "So, it gives you your powers?"

Jiyong shook his head, centering a bowl of what appeared to be salt just north of a metal disc of some sort. Peering over his shoulder, he confirms it's a pentacle. "Not quite," he replied, pausing to think for a moment. "It's like... art. Some people are naturally good at it, right? They get the hang of it quicker than others because they're naturally inclined to be artistic, but none of that would mean anything without their tools," he explained, "these are like my tools. I'd still be magic without them, I just wouldn't be able to do much with it."

He glanced over at Seunghyun, frowning when he saw the blank look on his face. "It's a bit hard to explain," he said sheepishly, "but magic is a type of energy, and my altar is sort of like the center of balance for the energy I harvest."

"So... If it's like art, can anybody learn it?" Seunghyun asked, earning a small laugh from Jiyong. He narrowed his eyes, "I'm serious! You don't have to be artistically inclined to learn how to draw, you just have to work harder at it. Can't normal people learn how to do magic too?"

Jiyong calmed his little giggle fit, sighing softly as he did. If Seunghyun didn't feel as if he was being mocked, he'd think it was cute. "Sorry, sorry, you just sounded so hopeful," he said, smiling at Seunghyun like he was a child who'd just suggested something stupidly impossible. _Yeah, he was being mocked._ "As far as I know, normal people can't harvest magical energy. You guys can't even feel it."

Seunghyun locked his jaw, trying hard not to pick up on the air of superiority in that statement for the sake of his temper, but ultimately failing. 

Jiyong must have picked up on that, because his smile fell almost immediately after that. "I don't mean it like that," he said quickly, "you aren't missing out on much, it isn't that great."

"Are you kidding me?" Seunghyun erupted, laughing bitterly, "you're treated like a fucking god by everyone here because of that shit. Those stupid 'energy fields' spoiled you fucking rotten, and you're so used to being handed everything that you can't even see how lucky you are."

"Seunghyun..." He murmured, but he was cut off before he could continue. 

"Do you know how long I've been hearing about you? _Months_. You haven't even done anything and people already treat you like you're the best thing that happened to this town."

" _Seunghyun_ ," he said more firmly, finally shutting him up. "Do you think I don't already know that?" Seunghyun stayed quiet after that, eyes now locked with the ground, still seething with anger that he couldn't bring himself to voice. "You know, once people know you were born with magic powers, you don't get to have a normal life anymore," he said, face falling even further, "You have to follow all these rules and traditions, you can't have your own dreams. If you want to be anything other than a witch, you're seen as a traitor by other witches and a waste of magic powers by humans."

"And then even if you're lucky enough to be happy with being a witch, people demand too much from you, asking you for miracles and comparing you to other witches when you fail to see through with those miracles," he said, voice growing sadder with each word, "it's fucking exhausting, Seunghyun. When I left my home town, it wasn't because I wanted a change in scenery, it was because I was tired of never being good enough."

Seunghyun looked up at him, brows furrowing in silence. Jiyong looked so vulnerable, smallness accentuated by the vast emptiness of the house.

When Jiyong finally look up to meet his eyes, he's searching deep for... something. Whether he found that something or not, after only a few seconds, he looked away. "My home town had a few witches, so it was really competitive growing up. Everything had to be a contest — who was best at flying, who knew the most spells and potions, who helped the most people. I worked really, really hard, but Youngbae was always better than me in every way. When we grew up, people would only come to me when he was too busy to take them, or when his prices were too high for them," he explained, absentmindedly playing with a loose thread on the table clothe. "Somehow, he'd figured out how to cure diseases without any terrible side effects, and I just... can't do that, so I'd frequently have to turn people away and tell them I couldn't help. Do you know how shitty that made me feel? Too have to look people in the eyes and tell them that I couldn't save their loved one, that I just wasn't good enough yet?"

"I was so tired of always being people's second choice, because I wasn't even a good second choice. So I ran away like the coward I am," he sighed, "I thought things would be different, but so far, I don't know..."

Seunghyun watched him for a while, watched the erratic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed,watched the way his lower lip trembled, watched as tears finally started to fall down his cheeks. He was immediately overcome with guilt — he'd never considered this, never imagined this job could be so hard. He'd imagined it to be a walk in the park, everyone admiring you for your abilities, regardless of skill. Clearly, he was wrong.

Hesitantly, Seunghyun reached over and rubbed Jiyong's back, desperately searching for the right thing to say. "Hey," he murmured, then paused to collect his thoughts. "At least you tried, right?" Jiyong looked at him and scoffed, wiping at his tears with the back of his slender hands. "I mean, you did all you could do, and yeah, it wasn't enough for those people, but it'll be enough for us. People already like you here." Seunghyun would know, he's been hearing about it since Jiyong got here. "Seriously, after Seungri met you, he wouldn't shut up about how nice you were."

Jiyong laughed weakly at that. "He was really enthusiastic about the furniture shop... you'd think he was sexually attracted to couches or something," he joked.

Seunghyun laughed, though he silenced wondered if this was Seungri's plan all along, because he'd never been that enthusiastic when Seunghyun was admiring design. Either way, he didn't mind being played like this, because he really had been wrong about Jiyong. He'd never tell Seungri that, though. 

"Speaking of furniture," Seunghyun said, looking back at the pile of unassembled pieces, "I better get to work."

Jiyong looked a little disappointed, but smiled anyway. "Alright, just don't knock anything else over," he teased.

"I'll try not to," Seunghyun laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. I had writersblock so I sorta had to force this chapter out, then Archive was giving me problems OTL. Uh... this chapter might not be my best work lol. Hopefully it's worth it in later chapters!!
> 
> I was thinking about writing some one shots in this universe as well. I'll still be updating the main story, of course — think of it as cute witch boy filler in between chapters!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: I made a side blog on Tumblr specifically for my writing. It's omjiyong.tumblr.com — since it's a side blog, I can't follow from it, but I can follow from my main! (I'm a little secretive about the fact that I write fan fiction, lol.) Feel free to follow / message me if you'd like!!

Seunghyun returns to the shop much later than necessary, further cementing his reputation for always being late. Seungri, diligent as always, points out that he's behind schedule as soon as he steps through the door. He rolls his eyes, because Seungri should know damn well why he took so long, considering he planned this whole delivery fiasco behind his and Jiyong's backs, but says nothings. 

For all his faults, Seungri was a decent judge of character — there was no doubt about it, he must have known as soon as he'd met Jiyong that Seunghyun could never actually hate him if he'd just drop the act and meet the kid himself. Assigning him the delivery was the only push he needed to learn that lesson on his own.

Seungri all but confirms this with a knowing smile.

Seunghyun _could_ thank him, theoretically, — and it might even be the right thing to do — but he isn't about to let Seungri win this battle. His ego is larger than life already, he doesn't need this adding into it.

So rather than thank him, he merely pushes past him and gets back to work.

—

The two don't see each other for a while after what Seunghyun has dubbed ' _The_ Delivery' — or rather, he _would_ dub it as such, if he ever talked about it.

At first, Seungri had pried, trying to get as much information about their encounter as possible. He'd set it up, after all. He'd be damned if he didn't get to know if his plan was a success or not. 

"I went to his place, assembled furniture, and left," was all he was able to get out of Seunghyun. 

"Come _on_ , you were there twice as long as you needed to be! Just tell me," Seungri whined, "I promise I won't tell the boss." He held up his pinky finger for added effect.

Seunghyun's face twisted in disgust, "Are you accusing me of what I _think_ you're accusing me of?"

"Well..." Seungri trailed off, earning a well deserved punch to the shoulder form Seunghyun. "Ow! All I'm saying is that you went from hating the guy to perking up everytime you hear his name, all after spending way too much time at his house. It's suspicious."

He rolled his eyes and scoffed at that, because this was all _so_ ridiculous. "Look, all we did was _talk_ ," he said definitively, "and I do _not_ 'perk up' every time I hear his name."

He didn't, not really. He just listened a lot more. Where before he'd turn up his nose and complain about all the attention Jiyong was attracted, now he simply listened, never offering anything to the conversation, always just quietly listening. He'd never admit it to Seungri (or anyone else, for that matter), but he liked hearing about the witch boy, if only because it reassured him that he was doing well since their last encounter.

He really shouldn't worry about him, but he does. He wonders if Jiyong will ever adjust to their small town, he wonders if he'll find his place here like he had seemed yo want so badly.

He also wonders why he hasn't seen him around himself, wonders if the witch is avoiding him specifically. Sure, their last meeting hadn't gone very smoothly, but Seunghyun had left confident that they had set aside their differences. Now he wasn't so sure. 

—

Seunghyun wakes up yet again to his alarm echoing through his room. He groans, because he's certain it's his day off and if that's the case, he should _not_ be waking up at such an ungodly hour. He fumbles with his phone for a few agonizing seconds before he finally manages to silence the alarm, eyes squinting at the brightness of the screen that confirms that it is his day off.

The man grumbles to himself, shifting in his bed until he's sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had been dead tired after pulling an extra long shift at work the night before, he must have forgotten what day it was. Silently, he cures past-Seunghyun from making such a stupid mistake. 

The sun is up, though, and the chances of him getting back to sleep in his light flooded room are slim, so he forces himself up and decides to get ready for the day. 

He deserves a reward for waking up before noon, he decides, so after he's washed up and dressed, he heads out of his house to take a relaxing stroll to pick up some much needed coffee.

Or at least, that's the plan, until he sees a vaguely familiar flash of grey fur disappear into a nearby shop. 

It takes him a whole ten seconds to realize who that fur belonged to, but as soon as it dawns on him, he's possessed with an overwhelming urge to follow. Seunghyun glances one final time in the direction of the coffee shop, then turns into the shop to follow the ghostly figure. 

The shop turns out to be a flower shop, which perplexes him, but he goes deeper into the humid, fragrant shop until he sees him.

A few feet away, Jiyong is nursing a bouquet of flowers in his arms as he looks at seed packages, his large, silver cat sat next to him, grooming itself. 

Seunghyun feels his heart drop unexpectedly at the sight. There was nothing going on between the two of them, and yet he couldn't help but feel as if he'd caught the other cheating on him, which was rediculous because 1.) they barely knew each other, and 2.) he was just buying flowers for someone.

Seunghyun is about to turn and exit the shop when he's started by the sudden hissing sound. Jiyong appears to be started too, as he nearly drops the seeds in his hand. He follows the cat's stare, started look easing into a smile as he caught sight of Seunghyun.

"Good morning!" Jiyong all but chirped, the smile spread across his face so shockingly genuine that it made Seunghyun feel stupid for thinking he was avoiding him. "What are you doing here?"

Seunghyun's eyes widened. He hadn't thought this far ahead; all he knew was that ' _oh, y'know, just followed you in here_ ', though accurate, was _not_ an appropriate answer. "Oh, uh, I just _really_ like flowers," he answered quickly, mentally slapping himself as he hears the words leave his mouth.

Jiyong giggled in response, and really, Seunghyun should be used to the other laughing at him by now, but he isn't. His heart still skips a beat. "Really?" He asks with a playful smile, and Seunghyun at least has the dignity to stick to his guns and nod stiffly in response. 

"Wh-what about you?" _Smooth_. Seunghyun should have never strayed from his path — he could be sipping hot, freshly brewed coffee right now, safe from embarrassment and witch boys and evil cats...

"Oh, I'm buying some seeds for my garden." Jiyong's voice is bright, like he's been waiting for someone to ask him this very question, and smiles the kind of smile that makes Seunghyun weak in his knees. "You know, my specialty is potion brewing."

"Specialty?"

"Yeah, witches have a number of career options, so they usually just pick one or two of them to get really good at," he explained, dragging his eyes across the racks of in-season seeds. "I could buy the ingredients, technically, but I like having complete quality control. I just find it's better that way."

Seunghyun doesn't have to understand what Jiyong is talking about to become completely absorbed by it. His passion is contagious. Even though Seunghyun has no idea if it makes any difference, he finds himself wanting to agree with him. 

It's not long before he gets distracted by the bouquet again, however. He has no idea what can and cannot be used for a potion, just Jiyong has said himself that he doesn't use anything he hasn't grown himself, so they have to be a gift. 

Jiyong must notice the way his stare is (metaphorically, because Seunghyun isn't magic) burning holes into the flowers, because he brings them up without needing to be asked. "Oh! And I wanted to get something to brighten up my house," he said, lifting the flowers to inspect them, "you remember how drab it was, don't you? I mean, before you set up the furniture! I don't think that the furniture is boring, just that my house is still pretty empty, and I just—" Jiyong rambled, his face glowing pinker as he got more and more flustered, until he just stopped mid-sentance.

A moment of silenced passed over them, both too awkward — Jiyong from stumbling over his words and Seunghyun from assuming too much — Seunghyun thinks he'd going to suffocate on the thick silence when it's finally broken by an annoyed meow coming from the cat perched at their feet. 

Jiyong looked down, then quickly turned back to the rack, gathering the last of what he needed. "Right! I better get going, I have a lot of work do."

"Right," he echoed, "I'll... see you around?"

Jiyong frowned at him, then all at once, lit up again as if nothing had happened. "Are you busy right now?"

"Me? Uh, no," Seunghyun answered.

"Then maybe you could help me? It'll take me all day to plant these by myself, but if I have an extra pair of hands, it'll go by a lot quicker."

Gardening wasn't an ideal way to spend the weekend, as far as he was concerned. That being said, Jiyong was looking up at him with eyes so hopeful that Seunghyun couldn't say no even if he wanted to (which, for the record, he didn't want.)

"I'd love too."

—

When the two exit the shop, Jiyong has somehow tricked the other into carry the flowers _and_ the bag containing the rest of his purchase. In reality, Seunghyun had insisted on carrying it for him, but only after the monster-cat had climbed it's way onto the witch's shoulder and he'd whined about it in a cute, nasally voice. ("Saturn is _so_ heavy. This kinda stuff was fine when he was a kitten, but now he's so big.") All Jiyong had to do was wrinkle his nose and the other was racing to gather up his stuff for him.

When Jiyong grabbed his _broom_ from where it was left leaning against the building, Seunghyun's heart dropped. 

"What?" 

"We aren't going to ride that to your place, are we?" Seunghyun asked, wide eyes locked on the broom's thin wooden handle. 

"Why not? It's a little too far to walk, don't you think?" Jiyong swung his leg over the broomstick, looking back at him expectantly. "It's perfectly safe, I promise." 

Seunghyun scoffed, firm where he stood. "Maybe when it's just _you_ , but two people, a cat, and all of this—" he holds up the bag and flowers for effect, "don't you think that's a bit much?" 

"I ride with Saturn all the time," he said in retort, as if that would someone ease Seunghyun's racing heart. "C'mon, hand me the bag," he said, reaching out one hand. 

Seunghyun did, watching as Jiyong slid the handles of the bag down the stick, so neither of them had to hold it. 

"There, now you can hold onto me," he said, smiling pleasantly. 

"That doesn't make me feel any better." 

"Just trust me." 

Seunghyun gives him a long, hard look, before finally breaking his resolve, albeit hesitantly. He swings his leg over behind Jiyong, hesitating again before wrapping his arms gingerly around Jiyong's middle. 

For a second, nothing happens, and just when he's starting to think this is all a cruel joke, a large gust of wind rolls up from underneath them, kicking up dust from the city street and they slowly start to lift in the air. 

Seunghyun nearly loses what little balance he has, causing him tightening his grip on his waist, to the point where Jiyong has to take a hand off of the broom handle and loosen his grip. 

The broom wobbles when he does, though, causing Seunfhyun to tighten his grip further. 

"Please, for the love of god, do not take your hand off of the handle," Seunghyun pleads, burying his face into Jiyong's shoulder weakly. 

"I wouldn't have to if you weren't crushing me." 

Although Jiyong couldn't see it, Seunghyun narrowed his eyes, but eased his hold on Jiyong, if only a little. 

It seemed to be enough for Jiyong, however, because as soon as he did the broom was shooting forward so fast that he worried he was going to be sick. It was hauntingly remenisent of a rollercoaster, minus the safety aspect. All he had keeping him from slipping off was the witch, who was shockingly calm and even more shockingly stable. 

When Seunghyun finally willed himself to open his eyes, his heart just about stopped in his chest. "Don't you think this is a little high?" He asked, unable to pull his eyes from the now-tiny buildings beneath them. Surely they could have gotten to his house flying a little closer to the ground. If he fell from here, he'd surely be dead. 

Jiyong, unfazed, had the audacity to _laugh_ , as if Seunghyun was the weird one here for not trusting a glorified branch to hold their weight. 

"You love laughing at my suffering, don't you?" 

Jiyong glanced back over his shoulder and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do." 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that the lore is my favorite part? Honestly, I could write Jiyong talking about witchy business for the rest of my life...

If Seunghyun had thought _flying_ was scary, one could only imagine how he felt about landing. See, flying at least had magic on it's side, but _landing_ was pure physics. 

This was all Seunghyun's fault. He was the one who'd pointed out that they were practically just above Jiyong's house. Perhaps if he hadn't pointed it out, they would have taken a detour and maybe, just maybe, Jiyong would have slowly lowered them to the ground the _right_ way. Somehow, the witch had spaced out, so when Seunghyun bravely removed an arm from his waist to point out the house, Jiyong seemed to be surprised that they'd gotten there so quickly. 

"Huh, you're right," he mused, "you're going to want to hold on tight."

"What? Why?" Seunghyun starts to ask, but he gets his answer before he can finish that thought. All of a sudden, they're _free falling_ , whatever magical energy that was holding them in the sky before now vanished as gravity did the work for it horrifyingly fast. The 50-or-so foot drop passes by like a second in Seunghyun's life, but it feels like an eternity. He makes sure to say a quick prayer, just in case, because he's certain Jiyong is in the process of murdering them both. 

His grip on Jiyong must be suffocating, too, but he deserves it, deserves to suffer in their final seconds together. 

His eyes are squeezed shut when they stop, but there isn't pain or nothingness like he'd expected. He keeps his eyes shut, still holding onto Jiyong, who's... Shaking?

It takes him a second, but eventually, Seunghyun processes that Jiyong's shaking is _laughter_.

He peeks one eye open, then the other, and finds that they're levitating just above Jiyong's lawn, grass just inches from their feet. Seunghyun goes red in the face, a combination of anger, residual fear, and embarrassment, as he quickly clambers off the broom, nearly falling in the process. 

"Stop laughing!"

Jiyong laughs harder at that, letting himself fall to his feet. The large, menacing cat perched on his shoulder looks unfazed as he hops off and slinks towards the door. 

"I guess Saturn wasn't too impressed by that either," Jiyong manages through his laughter, doubled over and still shaking.

Seunghyun wants to be mad, but somehow, he finds himself laughing as well. "You're such a fucking asshole," he said, playfully hitting Jiyong's arm. 

"It wasn't even worth it, I wish I could have seen the look on your face."

Their laughter eventually dies down, and Seunghyun figures he deserved that for being an asshole to Jiyong earlier. It'll be an amusing story to tell Seungri, at least. Still, he'd be damned if he was ever letting Seunghyun do that again. 

"Ah, I'm sorry about that," Jiyong says after catching his breath. He heals any remaining bitterness in Seunghyun by grinning at him, and for the first time he notices how truly _beautiful_ he is. He'd thought he was cute before, but this was a different revelation entirely. "How about we get to work?" 

Breath taken, Seunghyun merely nods.

—

When he sees the backyard, Seunghyun knows why Jiyong picked this house (and why he needed so many seeds, something he hadn't questioned earlier.) The backyard is _huge_ and lush compared to his own, perfect for someone who's apparent witchly purpose was gardening and somehow making magic from that gardening. The more he thought about it, the less he understood it, actually. 

Jiyong kneels down next to a patch of soil, tools laid out beside him, and he smiles as he pats the grass next to him in invitation. 

Seunghyun joins him, more than a little out of his element. He'd never really gardened before, struggled to keep even house plants alive, and he'd hate to somehow screw thinks up. Jiyong seems to read his mind, because he takes the lead, showing him exactly what to do. 

They get into the swing of things almost immediately.

Jiyong is the first one to break the silence between them, piping up as he works through a section that'll eventually be dedicated to herbs. "You know, I'm thinking of opening up a potion shop."

"So like, selling love potions and stuff?"

"Well, I don't know about _love potions_ , but yeah. Something like that," he answers, soft smile on his face. It's enough to pique Seunghyun's interest. 

"Why not? Is that not really a thing?" He supposes it's possible. There's a lot of rumours and stereotypes surrounding witches, even to this day. He wouldn't be surprised if some of them were false. 

"Oh, they are," Jiyong explains, making a face that Seunghyun can't quite read. "But the morality of it is a little bit... Iffy. I don't want bad karma." Seunghyun stops what he's doing, leaning back to listen, so Jiyong takes that as his cue to explain. "Have you ever heard of The Rule of Threes? Magic energy likes to be symmetrical whenever possible, so basically, whatever energy you put into the world comes back to you threefold. That's why black magic and evil witches are more myth than reality, because if you put out evil or negative energy, it'll come back to you."

"Wait, love is negative energy?" He interrupted. He hoped it wouldn't be perceived as rude, he just found that the more Jiyong explained, the more curious he grew. He really knew nothing about magic. 

Jiyong took it all in stride, still smiling as he leaned back and briefly abandoned him work. "Not typically, but the act of _making_ someone fall in love is," he explained, "I mean, you're using potions or spells to _force_ someone to fall in love with someone else, typically without them even knowing." 

"I've never messed with love myself, but my mom once wrote a spell. It was a special circumstance, though — someone came in wanting to fall in love with someone who was already in love with them," Jiyong wrinkled his nose, "it was a little weird, but nothing terrible came back to my mom, so I suppose it was okay."

As they got back to work, Seunghyun tried to wrap his head around that, tried to put himself in that person's shoes. He ultimately decided that, if they were willing to have a spell cast over them, there had to have been some feeling there. Even so, it was an interesting case indeed. He wondered how many weird jobs like that Jiyong had tackled himself, people asking for strange but technically permitted things. 

He also wonders why he's never considered this before. All his life, he'd never put deep thought into what exactly witches did, other than fly broomsticks and dress in black. He'd never researched or asked around, and now he was so _curious_.

"Ji?" Jiyong looks his way immediately, as if caught off guard. "Why potions? You said you chose it, right?"

He nodded, face softening with fondness. Seunghyun figured he must like talking about witchy topics, because every time he asks a question, he gets the same beautiful smile. "When I was little the idea of potions just interested me." He chuckled, shaking his head, "and I guess I wanted to rebel a little. All the witches in my family specialized in spells, and I wanted to be different. It's a little silly looking back, but at the time it was really important to me."

"Witches have to decide their fate at a fairly young age. At the age of 8 there's a coming of age ceremony for each district; if you're ready, you're assigned a pet and a teacher to help you with whatever field you've chosen — that's when I got Saturn."

"What if you aren't ready?"

That seemed to stump Jiyong, because he pauses to think. "I'm not entirely sure. I think they reevaluate you every two years until you're ready, but if I'm being honest, they're very lenient with their definition of 'readiness'."

"Well, they are just kids, you can't be too harsh," Seunghyun reasoned with a shrug. "Besides, normal mothers get mad when their child gets held back, could you imagine having magic in the mix? Hell hath no fury like a mother witch scorned."

Jiyong laughed at that, which warmed Seunghyun's heart. It was hard to think they'd ever been less than comfortable with each other when they conversed so smoothly now. 

"I suppose you're right. Witches tend to be defensive mothers, always thinking their child is the best..." He sounds fond, and Seunghyun doesn't have to ask to make the connection that Jiyong and his mother are close. For whatever reason, knowing that makes him feel relieved, like he was worried Jiyong didn't have enough people in his life, proud of him and rooting for him.

That fond atmosphere never dissipates as they finish their work, somewhere along the line scooting in a little closer to each other, stealing sly touches here and there as they reach out to grab things. The touches are unnessisary, but pleasant as they wrap up their work, lazily jumping from subject to subject. Eventually, the sun begins to set, and they decide to call a day and head in to make dinner together.

It isn't until after they've eaten that it dawns on them that it may be time for them to part, and suddenly, the air is tense between them. Neither of them had planned this far. 

"I could... I could ride you back to your place, if you'd like..." Jiyong offers, once smiley face now set in a heartbreaking frown.

As hard as it was to say no to that face, Seunghyun didn't have a death wish. " _Ha_ , thanks, but I don't think I'm meant to fly," he replied, forcing a laugh. 

Jiyong sighed, "I suppose so." He looked off to the side, making no move to walk Seunghyun to the door. He considers seeing himself out, but Jiyong looks up at him again before he can move to do so. "It's too dark for you to just walk home," he starts, voice cautious, nervous, "So, uh, maybe you could stay the night? I'd feel awful if I just sent you home at this hour."

Seunghyun glances out the window, considering. It _is_ dark and it _is_ a long way too walk, he certainly doesn't want to leave, but there's something about the finality of staying the night that makes him nervous. Something intimate about it in a way he should be used to, because he crashes at his friends places all the time, but this... This is different, somehow. This is Jiyong. 

When he shifts his gaze from the window, however, his choice is practically made for him; Jiyong is giving him the saddest puppy eyes he can imagine, and he feels almost like a villain for even entertaining the idea of leaving.

"I'd love to stay," he says and means it. 

Jiyong tries his best to suppress his grin, but fails, smile shoeing through regardless. Seunghyun smiles back, because that's all you can do when faced with something so perfect: try to reflect it. 

—

Somehow, simply 'staying the night' evolves into a movie marathon of sorts. Jiyong's taste in films is surprisingly romantic, and though it's not always his favorite, he _does_ enjoy the way Jiyong gets progressively cuddlier the later it gets, until they're all but entangled on the couch, too tired and too comfortable to be concerned with how extremely _close_ they are. 

Seunghyun hasn't laid this intertwined with someone like this in a while, but finds it surprisingly easy to drift off with Jiyong pressed against him, head propped on his chest as he took in the movie. 

All he knows is that it's the best night of sleep he's gotten in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you like it, it helps keep me motivated lol!


End file.
